Endless Possibilities - Part One: Bringing Life to Mars

Chapter 9: Newt's Shift

Sedna's mini-dome was a success. She and Newt went out there every day after their farm chores were done. Mister Green seemed to be a permanent resident.

They followed his advice on what to plant, and everything they planted flourished. The nitrogen level kept pace with the increase in oxygen. The air pressure in the dome increased until it was equivalent to high mountain air on Earth. 

One morning before Sedna put on her space suit, Newt said, "I want to do it too."

"Do what?"

"Shift into Mars form. I've seen how comfortable you are with it now. You make it look easy."

"Once you get it trained in, it is easy. Almost second nature."

"Like it's literally your second nature."

"It really does begin to feel that way."

"I think I can understand that. It's a lot like having an avatar for your drone in QAR."

"That's freaky true. But it happens in the Q. So it's more real."

"Anyway, I've done avatars in QAR. And I've been in the Q, so I know a little about what that is. I think I'm ready to give it a try. What do you think?"

Sedna jumped on him and gave him a kiss. He held onto her and kissed her back. They held it long enough for him to realize he was breathing pure oxygen from her green hair. He'd gotten lightheaded from kissing her before, but this was taking it to a new level.

He put her down and said, "Okay, where do I start?"

She said, "I should make a QAR recording of my own shift like I promised, so you can get familiar with that. But let's see if you can do the muscles on your own, like I did. Then we can both skip the centrifuge."

He said, "I like it. What do I have to do?"

"First get familiar with your own muscles. Get comfortable in your recliner, then find your muscle entities in the Q."

After he got settled in the chair he said, "I've heard about all this before, but let's pretend I haven't. So you need to tell me how to do each step of it. That way I won't have to strain my brain trying to remember." He grinned at her.

She smiled back and said, "Okay. Open yourself to the Q and locate your body's muscle entities. Look for the ones that are taking it easy in Mars gravity, and would be unhappy to give that up and go back to Earth."

He did that, and said, "Seems to be mostly my legs, but some of my torso as well."

"Can you focus on your leg muscles, the ones that keep you standing?" 

"Sure. What next."

"Say hello to them."

"Huh?"

"Say hello to those muscles. In thought, in the Q. Remind them of who you are. Reminisce with them a bit about good times you've had together." 

"Like in the weight room?"

"Or the sauna. Or out jogging. Whatever makes you feel good about each other."

Newt closed his eyes and got a dreamy, almost vacant look on his face. Then he smiled and said, "Okay." 

"Now let them know what you want to do. Friend to friend."

He got that vacant look again. After a little while it turned to a look of mild concern. He opened his eyes and said, "They want to know why they should do this."

"Then explain it to them. Tell them why you think it's a good idea."

Newt looked a little doubtful, but closed his eyes again to give it a go. After a while he started to smile. The smile got bigger and bigger. He opened his eyes and said, "It worked! What got them to agree was when I said we would be able to spend more time close to you."

Sedna grinned. "Our bodies are in love. Just like we are."

Newt grinned back and said, "Just as it should be." They were enjoying this. There was a lot to grin about.

He said, "What's next?"

"Now we need to get some of them to migrate, and change into fat cells. Tell them to get familiar with the fat cells they are closest to, just under the skin. Then they have to decide to be like them. Cells do this sort of thing all the time, so it should be easy for them."

That worked. Newt could tell that his legs now had more fat and less muscle. He made an agreement with them that they could switch back to normal every night, so they wouldn't forget how to do their Earth jobs. 

He and Sedna decided that was enough for one day. Newt activated his drone in the dome, but he stayed in his recliner. He wouldn't need to use the centrifuge anymore.

The next day he went to work on the rest of the muscle-to-fat shift. Sedna stayed nearby and kept an eye on him, but now that he knew the routine he didn't need much help. Before too long they went to the dome. Sedna put on her space suit. Newt stayed in his recliner again, but he began wanting to join her with his space suit. He was looking forward to being able to smell the air in the dome the way she could.

When their work in the dome was done, Sedna went back through the lava tube and joined Newt in their apartment. She stayed in her Mars form when they went to dinner, but shifted back to her natural body before they went to bed together.

Newt said, "Will you help me with the next part of the shift in the morning?" 

She said, "I'll do better than that. I'll record my whole morning shift to Mars form in QAR, so you can get familiar with all the rest of it. Then you can do it whenever you want."  

She was as good as her word, and when the QAR recording was ready Newt thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being Sedna while she shifted her muscles, lungs, and hair. He did his own muscle shift, but decided to wait until later to attempt the others.

This day, like Sedna, when it was time to go to the dome he put on his space suit.  He thought their little dome now had enough oxygen that he might be able to breathe the air. When they got to the dome, Newt stayed in his space suit and began working alongside Sedna. 

He opened his face plate, and agreed that the air smelled wonderful. But he soon found that he tired too quickly in the thin air to get much done, so he resorted to sitting still and operating his drone. He left the helmet visor open as long as he could. Like Sedna, he found he relished the smell of life here even more than he did in the tube farm. They decided that it was the smell of freedom.